honestly i say we keep him.... he only had 1 bad year with us and oh look at that its the year of the LOCKOUT... he obviously didn't train enough to get back into form.. give him a chance or amnesty him and watch him go sign somewhere for 3m and have a 80 point season

It has nothing to do with his play. It's purely a financial decision.

Richards has a back-diving contract. The last 3 years of the deal, he makes 1 mil per year. Do you honestly believe he'll stick around for those years? Do you honestly believe that the Rangers will want him for those years?

If we don't amnesty him, we will be stuck with him for the duration of his contract. And if he retires early, we will be hit with a huge cap penalty.

The only options are to amnesty him this summer, or amnesty him next summer. If we wait until next summer, we run the risk that he will get injured and we won't be able to buy him out. So there really is no choice.